Dear Poirot,

"Never argue with idiots. They'll bring you
down to their level and win from experience."
(Old saying - but very applicable here).

Dear Lexi, I am unsure of the point of your sweet little dittie, but I can assure you I have been called a 'white ^&*(' by Aborigines many more times than that footballer has been called an 'Ape'. I cried a river of tears, found a forest, chopped down some wood, built a bridge and then I got over it. Why can't he?

Me too Cody - in the course of doing my old job ...
Most of these Racists drunk and disorderly at the time but some just idiots with a log on each shoulder and a sense of entitlement.

Maybe Poirot should spend some time ...?

We may be all homo sapiens, Poirot. And dogs may all be dogs.

But if I were you, I would not let a Pit Bull or a Japanese Akira play with your kids.

Oops, now I am a "canine racist."

Dear Cody,

What can I say except that education is a
progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
And education matters. The young 13 year old
did receive an education that mattered. She
learned her lesson - and it is likely that she'll
never repeat her actions.

Of course the ultimate authority must always rest
with the individual's own reason and critical
analysis. And, as shown from some of the posts here,
ignorance does not like change.

Interesting...now LEGO is using the analogy of puppy dogs to make his point?

Seeing as most posters seem to be vilifying Goodes for making an issue of name-calling, and consequently hammering the issue on the grounds that the person he highlighted happened to be thirteen (I'm wondering if he was supposed, in the heat of the moment, to race up to her to ascertain whether she was eighteen or not?)

It's a shame the people criticisng Goodes don't possess his kind of class.

Here's what he said regarding the girl after the event:

" I've had fantastic support over the last 24 hours....I just hope that people give the 13 year old girl the same sort of support because she needs it, her family needs it, and the people around her need it...It's not a witch hunt, I don't want people to go after this girl...We've just got to help educate society better so it doesn't happen again...It's not her fault, she's 13, she's still so innocent. I don't put any blame on her....Unfortunately, it's what she hears, in the environment she's grown up with that has made her think that it's OK to call people names...I guarantee she has no idea right now how it makes people feel to call them an ape."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-25/goodes-gutted-but-places-no-blame/4712772

That's a far cry from the majority of comments around here.

.....

divine_msn,

"Maybe Poirot should spend some time..."

Says he/she, based on precisely "no knowledge" of Poirot's life experience.

Still, that sort of ignorant blather is par for the course around here - it seems.